Washington, D.C. —(ENEWSPF)–December 1, 2014. As many as one in three Americans have some type of criminal record. Yet having any kind of criminal history—even for minor offenses or an arrest without a conviction—can create lifelong barriers that can stand in the way of basic necessities such as employment and housing. This has broad implications, not only for the millions of individuals who are prevented from moving on with their lives and becoming productive citizens but also for their families, communities, and the nation’s economy. If not for recent trends in mass incarceration, our nation’s poverty rate would have fallen by 20 percent between 1980 and 2004, a recent study found.
